


A Healthy Dose of Nostalgia

by FlangstPrince



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Gen, I will take that to my grave, Listen Lloyd had to have been the one decorating the bounty with all the pictures, Lloyd misses his family, One Shot, Photographs, Pictures, Pixal and Lloyd are the only ones who actually appear, Pixal catches Lloyd in his feels, Takes place between seasons 7 and 8, diabetic kai, everyone else is just mentioned, morro is here too but hes kind of a joke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 09:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22967665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlangstPrince/pseuds/FlangstPrince
Summary: "He grumbled to himself as he recalled Pixal’s suggestion of a ‘pet project’ to him. The grand plan was to move some of their stuff from the Temple of Airjitzu to the bounty. After all, the ship had been simply sitting dormant for a long while, little to no belongings to make the bounty a home."In which Lloyd has one job to do, and he does something else instead.
Relationships: Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Nya & Jay Walker & Zane, Lloyd Garmadon & Lord Garmadon, Lloyd Garmadon & P.I.X.A.L.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	A Healthy Dose of Nostalgia

Lloyd’s footsteps creaked and groaned beneath him as the cold wind bit into his face. He found himself wishing he’d worn gloves as his fingers were stained red from the cold, holding up the old saggy box full of who knows what. It was one of those terrible contradictory days, with the sun shining down on him while cold air also chilled him to the bone. 

Lloyd set the box down atop another. It balanced at an awkward angle, holding on just enough that it didn't fall but Lloyd let it be with a sharp exhale. This was gonna take a while.

Lloyd stood where he was for a moment, stretching and rocking on his feet. The bounty was so painfully empty, the place once so full of life was now barren. A small, sad smile graced his face, he remembered this place feeling a lot warmer before. The dust of the unused ship was making its way into the blonde’s lungs, so he shooed it off with a couple of coughs before deciding it was high time he stopped standing around and got back to work.

The idea of a break sat uncomfortably in the back of his mind but he pushed it away, reminding himself of the breakfast sandwich he’d shoved in his face earlier that morning. He couldn't let himself have lunch in good conscience for at least a few more hours.

He grumbled to himself as he recalled Pixal’s suggestion of a ‘pet project’ to him. The grand plan was to move some of their stuff from the Temple of Airjitzu to the bounty. After all, the ship had been simply sitting dormant for a long while, little to no belongings to make the bounty a home. 

Sure, Lloyd had mentioned he was bored to Pixal without any sort of reason to fight or really do much at all with the team scattered about. As well as his mother leaving him high and dry… for the second time, and not to mention-

Lloyd shook the thoughts out of his head. He really needed to grab another box. As he turned to walk down the stairs, the box he’d set down decided to be a little bitch, falling to the ground and spilling its contents all over the place. The green ninja let a sound of agony escape as he slowly stood up, cracking his fingers with distaste as he forced himself back and trudged up the stairs.

Lloyd examined the mess before him with surprise, it had been so heavy, but it was full of picture after picture. Nothing but memories.

He snatched a picture out of the air as the wind attempted to steal it away. He brought it back down to eye level and examined it, he recognized it, but didn’t remember it. He definitely wasn’t there for it. His brothers were all standing together at the old monastery, before it had burnt down. Nya was there as well, her arm around Kai’s shoulders. 

Their gis looked about as aged as the picture. The simple designs with the dragons made him bark a laugh, thinking about what they had worn when he’d first met them. Their dragons were behind them, Zane atop his dragon Shard, petting her head.

They seemed to be having a pizza party of large proportions as Jay, who must have been twelve at the time, shoved a slice of pepperoni in the face of fourteen year old Cole. Zane who they’d thought to be Cole’s age looked upon the scene with interest while thirteen year old Kai laughed, tapping his cheese against Nya’s buffalo chicken slice as if they were clinking glasses together in victory. 

Lloyd flipped the photo over, messy handwriting resembling Cole’s was there, the words ‘Ninja go! Watch out Lord Garmadon!’ were written along with the date of ‘08/24/11’. It was taken around seven years ago. 

His thoughts were all blown away by the wind as the other pictures also began to blow away. With true ninja-worthy agility he grabbed the empty box and caught the pictures in them just as they were all about to escape. His feet thudded against the floor as he landed, falling to his knees and piling as many things as he physically could fit into the box.

Once satisfied with his work, he decided to drag the box into a place the wind couldn't reach it. He flipped on lights that flickered from the little use they’d had as he wandered down the halls and carefully trudged down a flight of stairs. He planted his tired green ass on the old couch as he placed the box below him, the pizza party photo still clutched in one hand.

He gently placed it down on the wooden coffee table, and looked down into the box below him with the loose hanging lightbulb swinging a bit from the ceiling. This picture was less worn, his brothers were all under a blanket of some sort. There was a pile of books that seemed to be holding a piece of the blanket over them, while the ninja sat atop the pillows they’d scattered about the place.

A smile graced Lloyd’s face as he recognized himself in the photo, only nine years old, stuffing his face with cheetos and playing a video game with Jay as they were encased in the blanket fort. Zane seemed to be finishing off a fudge pop while Cole doodled in his old sketchbook. Kai however was laying on his back arms spread out, staring at the top of the fort with hazy green eyes, his hand in a bag of potato chips... He was obviously high as fuck off venomari venom. 

The image was flipped over, the date scrawled in a bit nicer handwriting this time, definitely Nya’s: ‘02/08/12’, Lloyd glanced at the description, ‘Kai becomes a _ BAKED  _ Potato’ he barked a laugh at Nya’s choice of words.

He remembered this, that day. It was the time he had dyed Zane’s gi pink and had the ninja all at each other’s throats like the little terror he was. 

_ Lloyd had never seen anyone act like that, let alone Kai. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and Lloyd was absorbing every single second of it with glee. The fire ninja was stumbling around, mumbling and muttering about anything from ‘noodle swords’ to ‘gingerbread men’.  _

_ At one point in the day he’d stumbled into the room screaming and hysterically crying about how he couldn’t find his hands. Which were quite clearly still attached to his wrists. Cole had pointed out that fact, and Kai fell on top of the earth ninja sobbing his thanks for ‘finding his hands’ because ‘how can you be a ninja without hands’. _

_ They stopped allowing Kai to be left to his own devices when they found him on top of the fridge hiding from the ‘evil elf’ in the completely empty corner. That was when Jay admitted it was all scaring him and Wu had finally appeared from his room, suggesting they do something productive together. _

_ And so the blankets were brought out, the snacks piled up, and everything assembled into the ultimate blanket fort, built for max capacity and fun. They had even dragged the minifridge in there. It was that place in which Lloyd was introduced to minecraft, and a new kind of video game addiction that he happily shared with Jay. _

_ It was the most fun Lloyd had with the ninja up until that point, other than messing with them. It actually felt nice to be included like that. _

Lloyd picked out a few more, all dated near each other. In one the ninja were in barber shop quartet uniforms, another they were at the amusement park. The dates showed they were from the time period in which he had been kidnapped. All with scrawls on them about true potential and such,

Wow. Nice to know at least  _ they _ were having fun.

Another one was snatched up, this one bubbling up another chuckle from the fifteen year old. His uncle looked very tired and annoyed beyond belief. His father, red eyes glowing, was holding up whatever took the picture and he had a smug ass grin on his face. Lloyd quickly flipped the image over, his father’s unmistakable handwriting was there, ‘Road Trip!’ with a sharp toothed smiley face scribbled next to it. The date on the back ‘03/09/12’, also while he was kidnapped… Everyone always seems to have the most fun while he’s stuck in a cage somewhere.

He placed the pictures gently down next to the other photo as he dug into the box for another. The one he’d chosen was actually one that he recalled, the photo was of everyone taking a breather in the calm after the storm. Lloyd had been rescued and they were all enjoying ice creams of various flavors. The deck of the bounty showed the beginnings of spring with the sun shining bright and warm. His entire family was together. When flipped over, the date was revealed to be ‘03/26/12’. ‘Ice cream day.’

_ Lloyd felt tall on top of his father’s shoulders. His hands held onto the helmet atop Garmadon’s head. The breeze was warm and comforting. Jay wasn’t paying attention as his ice cream dripped over the ledge, too invested in his conversation with Cole, and Zane freezing it before the entirety of Jay’s ice cream disappeared.  _

_ Kai was hanging out with his sister, Nya telling him he’d get hurt if he slid down the railing. Kai insisting it would be ‘boss as fuck’. Garmadon yelling from afar to ‘watch your language’, and Kai getting injured. _

_ The good old days. _

More photos were flipped through one after another.

The afterparty they had at Darkley’s was fun, Cole got his cake and Lloyd got to see his old friends. 

Dareth’s ‘lessons’ were interesting… at the least, so many forms he learned that never really existed.

The ninjaball run, Lloyd felt accomplished with stealing the bounty back even though he didn’t win the race itself.

Meeting his mother again… damn it. Lloyd sighed, the same mother who’d left him again. The teen took in a shaky breath.

The photos that had filled him with joy, that laid on the table, suddenly had him feel so... sorrowful. His family was so very broken and scattered. Though somewhat together, Kai and Zane searched together, as well as Jay and Cole, while Nya seemed to prefer to search on her own. Though she would often join the boys here and there, clear as day from Kai’s enthusiastic and constant social media accounts. 

Though Lloyd... He was all alone. He had to stay where he was,in the city. Pixal sometimes chatting with him but she had no way to actually  _ be there. _

His uncle was lost to time.

And his father was gone. Forever. Along with the Cursed Realm his family had taken down.

Lloyd bit his lip with another sharp inhale, digging his hand into the box once more.

This picture was from the day the overlord had been defeated. Well, at least the first time. Jay deciding it was absolutely necessary to do the ‘draw me like one of your french girls’ pose in front of everyone. His father could be seen in the back, looking worse for wear, but still human and happy. If not a little shy, hiding a bit behind Misako.

It brought a bit of serotonin to Lloyd’s tired brain.

Rummaging through the box gave him a few more happy memories. He snorted at the image of him, Kai, and Jay donning baseball bats, all prepared to strike at the no doubt malfunctioning insulin pump on the ground. 

Kai’s diabetes devices would always go off at the worst times. And that was certainly one way to quiet a screaming pump that refused to shut up.

He pulled out another picture, sticking a little ways out of the box. This one was simple and actually quite sweet.

He remembered his uncle actually being the one to take the picture, his father was laughing and blushing in a shy manner as Misako kissed his cheek, holding his face to hers. He could almost hear the scene…

_ “M-Mimi! Come on!” _

_ Misako laughed as she pressed kisses to his cheek, “Goodness, it's been quite a while since I heard ‘Mimi’ from you.” _

_ The former dark lord looked down, “Sorry.” _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “No more apologies, dear, we all forgive you.” _

Lloyd hummed a bit, he remembered those days, his father was so shy and awkward before regaining his confidence in himself. The same days where his mother at least seemed like she was trying to love his father…

Though she didn’t seem to love him or miss him that much at all nowadays.

He had barely even seen her mourn, really.

She didn’t even have the decency to wait all that long before going right back to flirting with his uncle. She was acting like she was  _ his wife _ . It hurt. A lot.

He was ready to toss the picture down with the rest when he noticed a sticky tea stain on the corner, connecting another image. He carefully peeled the two apart, he now saw the date of the previous one, ‘03/10/13’ Lloyd glanced at the other image he’d peeled off of it. The aged back of it had the same date scribbled on it. 

In the second picture Lloyd was beside his father, they were both smiling and they looked happy, both pairs of red eyes and sharp teeth on display for the camera. Lloyd’s shoulders lost a bit of tension as he gazed at the photo, they were on the back patio of his father’s monastery. Ultra was trying their best to squeeze their way in and photobomb the picture. Their thunder was mostly stolen by the brown tabby cat who’s paw could be seen messing with the camera lense from where it rested.

The green ninja thought back to said cat, now residing at his apartment. He had to make sure to get back in time to feed Meowthra later that night… 

He held the picture up to his chest, and did his best attempt to absorb the best parts of the picture. He missed those days, but it made him very happy. He sighed, feeling even more alone.

This boat seemed so much more dead… without the life of everyone else inhabiting it. A shaky hand brushed over the pile on the table…

Maybe, just maybe there was a way to bring a bit of life back to this old place. Image still clutched in his hand he rushed up the stairs, out towards the piles of boxes, and across the platform connecting it to the dock it was tied to.

There was work to be done.

Pixal wanted a project, and he was going to give her one.

* * *

Lloyd returned within the hour along with tape, construction paper, pins, and other crafting materials, as well as a feline friend who he’d felt guilty leaving alone for too long.

Meowthra watched as Lloyd cut the construction paper to create colorful borders that he messily taped along the edges of the pictures. 

Tape and pins held up one image in the bridge, right above the steering wheel.

Another by the window, and one on the other side too, so it wouldn't be lonely.

Picture after picture, they soon expanded into the halls and covered the walls wherever blank spots could be found. Though Lloyd can never have nice things. It wasn’t long before he’d run out of pictures. He had rummaged and sifted through the other boxes to no avail.

He looked at his work so far. He had done a lot, but not nearly enough, there was no way he could just be. Done.

He slid down the side of the wall with a sigh. Lloyd opened up his phone with frustration, only one thing to do when there’s nothing else to do. He scrolled through his phone, just gazing at social media, posts about current events he’d seen already and such. An old meme. A genuinely funny meme and-

A notification atop his screen, ‘New memories! Summer 2015!’. Lloyd mindlessly tapped on it and was now in the album his phone had automatically generated. Surprisingly, for once it seemed like the phone gave him a good album. His phone was packed with pictures from the Tournament of Elements cause there were some things you couldn’t  _ not _ photograph. 

Sure, he had felt like the only sane one of his brothers there with Kai ogling his latest crush, and Jay and Cole brawling it out over every little thing. But there were pictures that brought out joy. 

The group eating fortune cookies together.

Kai and Cole having a noodle slurping contest.

Jay dabbing in the stands during a fight.

Garmadon holding onto the shoulder of a very anxious looking Kai.

This next image really radiated good vibes. Everyone from the noodle factory that Cole had unionized, around a campfire, talking, and even singing songs. Karloff very carefully roasting his marshmallow, while Kai seemed to insist that the proper way to cook it was to just light it up, evident by the charred remains of his marshmallow.

Jay and Cole were next to each other, arms wrapped around each others shoulders, happy as they finally made up. Nya sat next to Zane engaged in what was possibly a three-way conversation between Zane, Pixal, and herself.

Lloyd smiled and swiped out of the album, scrolling through his older photos. He began petting Meowthra who had decided to curl up next to her boy. She happily purred, her chest rumbling as she relaxed. He scrolled until he saw something that MADE HIM CHOKE ON HIS BREATH.

Many. Many. MANY selfies of ‘himself’ looking confused at the camera. Yet not him at the same time. Morro who had possessed his phone not too long after possessing Lloyd decided he would go through it, and the result was many awkward selfies that looked like accidental photos baby boomers uploaded to facebook.

Lloyd was losing his shit. Scrolling through a little over five pages of it before it all ended. 

Then it hit him over the head like a brick. 

Lloyd shot upwards, startling the tabby beside him and sending her running downstairs. He followed the cat’s cue and ran down the stairs himself into the electrical room, the power grid and many other electronics were around there.

Including the printer.

He hooked up his phone via bluetooth, and it was  _ printing time. _

Picture after picture, all of them would become physical. Not a single one left behind. Lloyd suddenly had a lot more photos to work with, and much more of the bounty to cover head to toe in memories.

More construction paper was snipped and there was a place for every picture, he had even left surprises for himself in places like the insides of cabinets, and behind the bathroom mirror. And even some on the ceiling in case anyone cared to look.

Once the walls were covered, Lloyd still found himself with many more pictures, and he couldn’t just leave them behind. 

So he grabbed his scissors and cut some yarn.

Pictures now hung in collections from the ceiling, and every available picture frame on the ship was filled with a precious memory.

It was probably around 9 pm by the time Lloyd had finally covered the bounty head to toe with each and every memory he could bring into physical form. And it finally felt like, the bounty had truly been brought back to life.

He finally felt like he could relax and- shit. Lloyd found himself smacking himself in the head at the realization he had many more boxes to bring aboard. Lloyd headed back out to grab the next box, only to find them all disorganized and rummaged through. OF COURSE.

He’d forgotten he did that.

The mess was soon cleaned up, but an odd binder looking thing caught his eye. It was old and had no label. But he flipped it open.

He smiled, he remembered this.

There were countless pirated movies from over the years. Jay would carry the book into the family room, he’d open it up and they would pick a movie from his pirated collection.

Lloyd flipped through it, smiling at all the movies contained in it. But soon the movies seemed to stop, and then there was something written on the dvds that were not movie titles.

One in particular caught his eye immediately. 

‘Camp Ninja! Summer 2013!’

Lloyd snatched up the book and spun his way to the family room, the other boxes could wait.

* * *

This was worth more than gold.

That summer his father had decided to try and welcome more kids into his program where he was a sensei. His idea was to open up a summer camp, and Wu was more than happy to force the four ninja and Nya to become counselors.

There were cabins with each element and a samurai cabin as well.

There was footage of normal camp activities, he recognized a few of his old friends from Darkley’s in the videos. Instances that stood out included Brad terrorizing poor Zane’s cabin by being the absolute worst camper ever. He’d even pulled the fire ants out again… though they couldn't do much to Zane. (It’s the thought that counts in a good prank anyways!) But the most fun of the videos seemed to be coming from the skits.

There was a safety skit performed by Jay and Cole, in which they did everything you were not supposed to do at camp. Meanwhile Zane narrated why they were considered ‘unsafe procedures’. God it was such a MEME.

There were also skits about activities they had planned where Kai would get to pour his heart and soul into all the stupid things he wanted to do to illustrate activities to campers.

Lloyd munched on his corn puffs. He had to admit. He was a happy green bean… at least for now. Though things were still bittersweet.

Halfway through the footage of his brothers’ stupid skits, Lloyd’s phone began to ring. He pressed the answer button, “Yee?”

“Lloyd?” Pixal’s voice rang out, “Did you finish bringing the boxes onto the bounty?”

An extra loud crunch was heard, “Uhm…” crunch crunch, “Maybe?”

A really loud sigh, “Are you kidding me? What have you been-” Meowthra heard the voice and happily plopped down on the phone, nuzzling and purring.

“Hello Meowthra.” Pixal giggled. “So you wanna tell me why you brought your kitty on the ship?”

“I uh-” crunch, “Started a new project, it’s super cool really, I can turn on the mainframe upstairs if you really wanna see?”

“Oh, sure thing.” her voice sounded more intrigued than disappointed in him, so that was a score at the very least.

He booted up the computer in the bridge and watched as Pixal’s icon connected to it. Her vocal reader popped up on screen.

“L-lloyd! Oh my goodness, this is. Amazing.”

  
  
“Are you still disappointed I didn’t bring up the boxes?”

  
  
“Mmm, slightly, but not as much as I was before.”

Lloyd chuckled, “I’ll take it Pix.”

Looking back at all the work he’d done, Lloyd allowed a soft exhale to escape, he really did do good today, but maybe his project needed one final touch…

One final photo was framed beside his bed. A selfie of him in front of the bridge, all memories in sight. The back was labeled, ‘A Healthy Dose of Nostalgia’ ‘01/14/18’.

**Author's Note:**

> YO REN! You're the best bro ever for Beta Reading this for me! 
> 
> Got this idea as a kind of animatic at first, but I'm also a college student who doesn't have the time to draw that so here you go.


End file.
